India and Indians
According to the Britannica Student Encyclopedia, “Nearly one sixth of the human beings on the Earth live in India.” The National Census of India has stated, that the total population of India as at 0:00 hours on 1 March 2001 stood at 1,027,015,247 persons. India became only the second country in the world after China to cross the one billion mark. The Britannica Student Encyclopedia states, India with this enormous and extensive population is the largest and most populous democracy in the world. Despite India’s large population and contracting ideas over time, Kuldeep Kumar is proud when he stats, “In India’s five-thousand year old history she is proud that she has never been an aggressor and has never has been the first to attack any other country in the world.” India is part of Asia, but is known as a sub-continent because of its natural borders, and isolation from the major part of Asia.
“Its borders encompass a vast variety of peoples practicing most of the world’s major religions and speaking a vast array of languages,” says the Britannica. It is completely isolated from China by the Himalayan Mountains. “Most of India’s area of almost 1.3 million square miles is a peninsula that is jutting out into the Indian Ocean” (Britannica). India comparatively is slightly more than one-third the size of the US.
Within it walls India holds a large mix of people. The people are known from where they come from someone from Punjab would be a Punjabi as someone from New York would be a New Yorker. There are enormous number of people and places they can come from in India. The linguistics of the people varies as well as their location. Understanding each language is difficult, especially when you go into a small town where they speak unrefined versions. A person who speaks Bengali is from Bengal, a person who speaks Gujarati is from Gujarat, and so on. The national language of India is Hindi, and those who understand Hindi also understands the language of Pakistan, which is Urdu. The languages are different yet the same in most perspectives, few words are different but are still understandable in context; it is this way because India and Pakistan were one country before they divided in 1947 after the British left. Some languages are so different that any knowledge of another language wont help, that is because there are two separations in languages, the southern languages are known as Dravidian tongue (Britannica Student Encyclopedia).
The Britannica Student Encyclopedia informs us that, “Though a number of religions flourish in India’s tolerant social climate, four-fifths of the people are Hindus.” There are many religions in India today. Hinduism is not in any orthodox form and is polytheistic religion, in which a go or goddess represents an object, for money you pray to a certain goddess. Information from the Britannica Student Encyclopedia illustrates “Muslims constitute eleven percent of the population.” The other main religions in India are the Sikhs, they are predominantly from Punjab, and they are a militant group. Buddhism originated in India, and once again began its rise after a popular emperor converted. Jainism is a small percent of the people, but they have enormously helped India in art and architecture.
“The artistic and literary heritage of India is exceptionally rich. Probably the most renowned are the countries architectural masterpieces” (Britannica Student Encyclopedia). The temples throughout India are stunning and amazing, made of marble, and impressive jewels line their walls. The most famous architectural structure from India is the Taj Mahal of Agra, which was built, in the 17th century by Emperor Shah Jahan. India also has the oldest religious text, the Vedas, which began to be transmitted by word of mouth around 1500B.C.E.
“Households often consist of more then one married couple” (Britannica Student Encyclopedia). In Indian family usually lives in a joint family situation. The daughter will move out, but the son, and his wife will remain in the house, uncle and their wives, and kids also live in the joint house. This is done because Indians believe in family strength, that the family will always be around and there will always be support if ever needed. “My grandmother always used to tell me to love my brother when she saw us fight or yelling at each other, because she said that later on in life he and my other siblings would be the only ones always there for me in times of need,” (Rebecca Cuthill). “I feel that the majority of people, because of their culture and heritage are hospitable, and always make their guests feel like family, (Kuldeep Kumar). In some parts like in small towns, marriages are still arranged, but not so much in big and major cities. It also depends on the person’s family and religion, and what type of person they are, some people are more open mined while others still follow old style rules.
Indian holidays are an important part of its culture. “Each major religion has its own federal holidays, which probably happens only in India, said Mr. Kumar. Two days however are holidays the entire countries celebrate, August 15, which is known as Independence Day, because that was the day India got its independence from the British in 1947, and January 26, which celebrates the adoption of the constitution in 1948 and is known as Republic Day.
The Hindu calendar goes on a lunar cycle, the two major holidays we celebrate are Holi, which celebrates the end of winter, loose powders of colors are thrown at each other, and sweets are exchanged. Diwali is the celebration of the return of Rama after a fourteen-year exile in the jungle. While Lord Rama was in the jungle he defeated a cruel king, the celebration signifies the triumph of Good over Evil as well as Rama’s return to his kingdom. Lights and lamps are light all around the house, there are fireworks, and festivities that occur all day long, it is known as the festival of lights, and it the equivalent of Christmas.
The article “ South Asians in the Melting Pot” said, “Compared with other immigrant groups, which had taken generations to reach high standards of living, Indians prospered so after arriving on these shores” (“South Asians in the Melting Pot” ) Seventy percent of Indians who arrive in America possessing a college degree. Most have higher education when they arrive. “Indians have become CEO’s of major companies including U.S. Airways and McKinley & Co., the consulting giant” (“South Asians in the Melting Pot”) “Among the professionals that come here most are doctors, engineers, professors, and computer software engineers. (Kuldeep Kumar). “The second generation of Indians are doing exceptionally well and once quoted Mr. Bill Clinton said ‘“They (second generation of Indians) have the highest graduation percentage rate, and lowest divorce percentage rate,”’ Stated Kuldeep Kumar.
Many people know very little about Indian and anything to do with India, and there is only a small number of reasons why this is so. Ms. Rothman of the social studies department who has been teaching global studies for thirty-three years says the lack of knowledge is not the fault of the teacher or student but is due to the curriculum change. “I taught African/Asian studies when I first started and in that the class covered in-depth on the culture, heritage, and religion of India, Middle East, Africa, China, and Japan, this was from the seventies to ninety-seven or ninety-eight when the regents where put into the system,” said Ms. Rothman. “I used to have a great time teaching the African/Asians study class, we used to incorporate literature into our class, it would be works from an author from the country, or a book read in the country, it helped the students understand what they were learning,” (Ms. Rothman).
The curriculum is completely different now “We now build a birthday cake in learning, we start at the very bottom and talk about what is happening during that time, and as time progresses we talk about a different culture in a different time, we don’t continue with the same culture in a different time,” stated Ms. Rothman. Many people feel that more time should be spent on learning about different cultures. “The curriculum needs help,” stated Ms. Rothman. “I think the curriculum is to blame for the ignorance of the students and the lack of knowledge about India,” briefly explain Roma Chopra.
According to ‘South Asians in the Melting Pot’ “Indians , who are intrigued by the new cachet of globalizes the Indian culture and are especially interested in Bombay’s vibrant music and film industries, which rival Hollywood in sheer size and extravagance.” Bollywood, which is the name of the film industry in India, rivals America’s film industry, Hollywood. Bollywood is the largest film making industry in the world. Bollywood has gotten much attention more so lately, because of its foreign film nomination in the Academy Awards, and its attention from big stars like Richard Gere. “Indian movies are a good blend of both Indian and American movies, while still incorporating in them, traditionally Indian values,” says Roma Chopra. Not only do Indian people watch Bollywood movies those who may not even speak the language enjoy them as well. Ms. Kolodney says, “I love to watch Indian movies.” Rebecca Cuthill whose parents are from Ghana and grandparents are from India says, “Despite the fact that I don’t understand a word in Indian movies I still love to watch them, I also love to listen to the music; I play it all the time in the car.” Indians have also become involved in Hollywood. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has unveiled a musical inspired by Bollywood (“South Asians in the Melting Pot”). The director of Academy winner Elizabeth is an Indian. Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs are all written and directed by an Indian M. Night Shyamalan.
Little Known Facts About India
India was the first to have indoor plumbing.
The British took the large diamond in Queen Elizabeth’s crown, when they left India in 1947.
3. The value of "pi" was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
4. Indian Mathematicians gave the world zero.
In 1994, both Ms. Universe and Ms. World were from India.
In the song Addictive by Truth Hurts, the music mixed in (what you do not understand is actually Indian Music, from a movie.
Henna is really from Indian, is used on occasions, and is an important part of weddings.
Indian Brides do not wear white they wear red.
White is worn in funerals.
10. India was once known as “Golden Sparrow” because of its extreme riches and wealth.
11. India is one of the biggest players in the international fashion arena. Buyers such as Macys, Levi's, Wrangler
12. India has 3.5 million professionals trained in medicine or other technical sciences. Ranking India as one of the ten largest emerging markets in the world.
13. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
14. India invented the Number System
15. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in100 BC.
16. Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
17. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of12).
News Story:
India has been dealing with terrorism for several decades, and that is why when after the 9/11 attacks India was one of the first countries to stand up and tell the United States that they were with them, very few people are aware of this and acknowledge it, including the media.
Students do not learn about India for more than a couple class periods tops and then people just assume the rest. People may believe that they are educated but when they make ridiculous comments it is quite clear they are not.
The problem of not knowing anything about outside cultures and religions needs to be fixed and as soon possibly by adding more time in class to learning about what is not known. The curriculum needs to be changed so everyone will learn more about the outside world and stop thinking what they assume is right.